Cotton-chopper



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN R. MILLER, OF BEND, TEXAS.

ooTToN-oHoPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,877, dated February 9, 189'?. Application iilecl September 9, 1896. 'Serial No. 605,264. (No modelli To all whom t may concern,.-

Beit known that I, JOHN RICKMAN MILLER, of Bend, in the county of San Saba and State of Texas, have invented a new and Improved Cotton-Chopper, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to construct a cotton-chopper whereby the choppers will be adjustable, so as to regulate the distance between the hi'lls of cotton, and to provide cultivators arranged to follow the choppers in such manner that the space between the rows of hills will be cultivated as the hills are formed.

A A further object of the invention is to provide a means whereby the ground or supporting wheels will be adjustably placed upon their axles, so that they may be adjusted correspondingly to the adjustment of the choppers, to insure a uniform distance between the rows of hills as the machine is drawn up and down the iield.

A further object of the invention is to construct a cotton-chopping machine which will be simple, durable, and economic, yet exceedingly strong and effective in its operation.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had tothe accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the gures.

Figure 1 is a plan v iew of the improved machine. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken through the machine at one side of the pole. Fig. 3 is a detail plan view of a hanger and a disk chopper adj ustably connected therewith, a portion of the hanger being in section; and Fig. 4 is a vertical section through a portion of the hanger shown in Fig. 3, illustrating a disk chopper in section and the spindle supporting the chopper partly in side elevation and partly in section.

In carrying out the invention the tongue or pole of the machine is attached securely to an arched axle 11, and the spindles 12 of this axle are of greater length than the ordinary spindles and are provided with series of apertures 13, arranged at such distances apart that the hubs of the supporting-wheels 14,

the axle, preferably through the medium of links 16, which are attached to the said bar at each side of its center, and each of the said links slide loosely through an adjusting-lever 17, placed convenient to the drivers seat 17. thumb-latch for engagement with racks 18, which are attached,usually, to the rear branch portions of the pole and to the axle 11, since the rear portion of the pole 10 is bifurcated, as shown in Fig. 1. Each link is passed through a coiled spring 16a, and said springs have bearings against the foot portions of the lever and against the bar or other support.

Hangers 19 are adjustably carried by the cross-bar 15, and are secured on the said bar through the medium of set-screws 2O or their equivalents. Each hanger 19 comprises a vertical shank member 'a and a horizontal foot member ct', which is at the rear of the shank member and is much wider than the said shank member, as shown particularly in Fig. 3. has an opening 21 made horizontally therein, and a plow-stock 22 is carried rearwardly through the opening 21 of each hanger, and these vplow-stocks extend beyond the rear of thehan gers, their forward ends being made to converge beneath the pole and are pivoted to and have lateral movement upon a bolt 23, placedin ayoke 24, secured to the under face of the pole.

The horizontal or foot member of each hanger is provided with an opening 25 near each of its ends, extending through from top to bottom, and asimilar opening 26 adjacent to each of the larger openings 25. The footsection of each hanger is adapted to carry two angular spindles 27, embracing a vertical member b, which is passed up loosely through an opening 25 in the foot member of the hanger, and a horizontal section b, which is provided with a series of apertures 28. At the upper end of the vertical member b of .a spindle 27 a wheel or a disk 29 is securely fastened, the said wheel or disk being j ust above the upper face of the foot-section of the hanger, and the said Wheel or disk has a number of cavities 30 produced in its periphery,

These levers are provided with the usual The shank member of each hangerv IOO or openings may be made in the disk or wheel adjacent to the periphery, as a substitute for the cavitiesor recesses 30, and the horizontal member of a spindle 27 is held at a predetermined angle to the foot-section of a hanger by passing an adj Listing-screw 3l or a pin through a cavity 30 in the wheel or disk 29 after the spindle has been adjusted and into the smaller opening 26 in the hanger adjacent to that in which the spindle turns.

A disk chopper 32 is mounted to revolve upon the horizontal member h of each of the angular spindles, and each disk chopper is provided with a concaved inner and a con'- vexed outer surface, and these disk choppers are held to turn on their spindles near the hangers or removed therefrom through the medium of pins 2S, placed in openings 2S in the said spindles, one at eac-h end of the hub of the disk, as shown in Fig. l. The disk choppers are therefore in pairs, a pair being carried by each spindle, and the disk choppers of each pair are placed with their concaved surfaces facing each other, and converge at their rear ends and diverge at their forward edges. Consequently the convexed faces of the opposing disk choppers of adjoining pairs will converge at their forward edges and diverge at their rear edges, as illustrated in Fig. l. All of the cotton contained in a row of plants which will enter between the concaved faces of each pair of disk choppers will be cut outfrom the ground, as shown in Fig. l, leaving the hills of a width corresponding to the distance between the convexed surfaces of the disk choppers at their forward edges.

The plows 33, which may be of any approved. type, are secured to the lower rear ends of the plow-stocks 22 and are immediately opposite the rear edges of each pair of disk choppers, as is also shown in Fig. l, and therefore will be centrallyT placed between the hills and will cultivate the ground at such point. The foot of each plow-stock is to be supplied with suitable automatic breakingjoints or provided with the common breaking-pin.

The width of the hills is regulated by the adjustment of the disk choppers on the spindles 27, and since it is necessary that the rows of hills shall be at even distances apart when the disk choppers are adj usted the ground-wheels of the machine should be correspondingly adjusted, and the correct position of the ground-wheels is that shown in Fig. l,wherein t-he wheels track centrally between the hills of adjacent rows. Therefore if the disk choppers are adjusted to increase or decrease the distance between the hills and the'supporting-wheels are not adjusted the wheels would be liable to travel over the cotton-plants that are designed to remain in the ground, but the adjustment of the ground- Wheels prevents any such catastrophe, and when the machine is turned to chop the cotton on any trip through the lield the track at the off side of the rows of hills will form a guide for the wheel at the near side of the nzachine, insuring a proper distance between the hills.

By reason of the disks being set in pairs, as above described, and followed by plows of suitable size and shape the dirt is first thrown from the cotton bythe disks, forming a ridge between each pair of disks. The plows following the disks open and spread these ridges and thus thoroughly cultivate across all the land except the narrow strip left between the convexed faces of the disks where the cot-ton is to be left standing, enabling the operator to cultivate every portion of his iield in a most thorough manner, the standing cotton being well supplied with loose dirt, and the use of the hoe is obviated except where it is necessary to remove surplus stalks from the hills, which can be done at any subsequent time that may be deemed best.

The horses are so attached to the machine that they will travel in front of the space between the concaved faces of the outer disks, and therefore will not trample down any of the plants that should be left standing.

It is obvious that the plows and choppers may be made to enter the ground as far as desired or maybe entirely removed from the ground through the medium of the levers 17.

I desire it to be understood that single hangers 19 may be adjustably placed upon the supporting-bar 15 for each disk chopper of all the pairs of choppers, in order that the width of the hills of cotton may be regulated by moving both hangers of all the pairs of choppers closer together or wider apart,gas desired, thus obviating the necessity of a len gthened spindle upon which any disk chopper is to revolve. Vhile the means shown for adjusting the ground-wheels upon the axle is in many instances desirable the adjustment of the wheels may be accomplished by employing any adj nstable axle in common use.

It is obvious from the above description of the invention that the device is susceptible of some modification without material departure from the principle and spirit of the invention, and for this reason I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise form of the parts herein set forth.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent l. In a cotton-chopper, the combination of hangers comprising two parallel bars, concave rotary disks pivoted thereto on each side of the center, with a plow-beam passing between said bars and guided thereby and a shovel upon its rear end occupying the space between said disks substantially as described.

2. In a support for rotary disks. the combination of a depending arm having a horizontal head extending across the line of motion, and provided with vertical holes therethrough near each end and lookin g pin-holes adjacent IOO IIO

thereto, with arms having journals at right angles to each other, one of said journals passing through one of the holes in the head, a notched disk fixed to its upper end, a pin adapted to engage one of said notches and a pin-hole in the head, and a rotary disk journaled upon the horizontal journals, substantially as described.

3. In a support 'for rotary disks, the combination of a depending arm having a horizontal head upon its lower end and extending across the line of motion and provided with a vertical hole therethrough near each end and locking pin-holes adjacent thereto, With bars having right-angled journals pivoted in said holes, notched disks iixed to their upper ends, locking-pins engaging said notches and r Witnesses:

N. S. EDENs, J. K. MILLER. 

